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Mythical Set Review

Well you’re ready for pre-release. Now to take a look at what cards you could be lucky enough to pull in your pool. Firstly lets take a look at the Mythics of the set. I will be talking in respect to the card’s potential in limited (draft and sealed) only.

Disclaimer: All ratings are based on my thoughts on the card, so if you disagree with anything feel free to drop me message to discuss.

Aetherwind Basker

What is there to say about a 7/7 trampler that you can make bigger with the energy it produces. If you are in green and can make it to seven mana then this card will most likely win you the game in two turns. Energy is a key mechanic for green in limited but even without the energy back-up this makes one energy when it enters and another when it attacks for the first time, meaning you can make it a 9/9 trample. If the opponent doesn’t have a way to deal with this card it is a true limited bomb. RATING: A

Ajani Unyielding

Planeswalkers are almost always good in limited. Ajani is a tad expensive at six mana and isn’t great against an aggressive, go wide strategy or if you put him down with no real way to protect him. Planeswalkers should never be judged by their ultimate, so lets look at his other abilities. +2 reveal the top three cards and put all non-land permanent cards in your hand. In limited most of your cards will be permanents so this is actually quite good, and once you hit 6 lands you probably do not want to draw many more, so putting them on the bottom of your library is useful. The +2 ability also puts Ajani to 6 loyalty which makes him quite hard to kill. Ajani’s -2 is a great removal spell and can take out most of the other cards in the set. This ability does leave him on 2 loyalty and vulnerable to being killed though. RATING: A-

Exquiste Archangel

Exquisite Archangel is interesting, I see two scenarios for this card. Scenario 1; the board has stalled but your opponent has put you to a low life total. Exquisite Archangel comes down and they manage to squeeze the last few points of damage through, you go back to 20, stabilise further and carry on with the game. Scenario 2; your opponents control the board, kills you, you go back to 20 life, they still control the board and kill you two turns later. Personally I think scenario 2 is most likely. If a 7 mana 5/5 flyer couldn’t keep you alive then most of the time you probably won’t win if it has been exiled. RATING: B-

Gonti’s Aether Heart

If you have an energy or artifact theme then this card is ok, I guess. Taking an extra turn in limited won’t usually do it and for six mana I’m not sure this will have the impact you would hope for. Played at the right time however, with two attack phases, it could be a game winner. RATING: C

Heart of Kiran

Crew 3 is a bit of a downside for this card. If you plan to attack and block with it then you need six power in total. Saying that, a 4/4 flyer that can most likely attack on turn 3 is nothing to moan about. If you are lucky enough to also pull a planeswalker this card can be phenomenal. RATING: B+

Herald of Anguish

This card has my vote for most likely to end a game in limited. A 5/5 flyer with improvise. This card will most likely come down on turn 5 if you have enough artifacts, maybe even turn 4 if you get lucky and have built your deck for that eventuality. Now if that hasn’t already peaked your interest you can use the artifacts that cast this Beast, I mean Demon, to just kill your opponent’s creatures with a -2-2 effect. I hear you saying “Wow that sounds really strong,” well let me whet your appetite even more, your opponent also has to discard a card at the beginning of your end step, giving them card disadvantage. Personally I would be super excited to open this card in pre-release. RATING: A+

Indomitable Creativity

Hard to cast in a two or more colour deck due to the triple red in the cost. This card can remove your opponents biggest creatures and worrisome artifacts but this does give them extra cards for free. It may be useful killing a few of your own servos to try and “upgrade” them with cards in your own deck. A versatile kill spell but can be a two edged sword. RATING: B-

Lightning Runner

In a deck that focuses on energy this card can just steal games. Wait for your opponent to tap his creautres, play this, attack, pay for effect, swing again, win the game. Without the energy, a 2/2 double strike haste is still a fine card. Rating: B

Mechanized Production

This card already has a special place in my heart, but I will try to be unbiased. As a win condition it is risky, due to creature removal and artifact hate being somewhat common in this set, especially after sideboarding. Though as a value engine this could be very effective. Put it on a woodweaver’s puzzleknot from Kaladesh for example and you gain three life a turn. This will give you some ideas of how valuable this can be. Rating: B

Paradox Engine

Most of the time in limited this will be a five mana artifact that can give your creatures vigilance. Some of the time you can untap something that matters but this card doesn’t seem too playable. Rating: E

Planar Bridge

Expensive. A total of 14 mana; six mana to play then eight to activate. This card can find you a creature every turn once you have eight mana but it is still expensive Rating: D

Tezzeret the Schemer

As I said earlier, planeswalkers are usually worth playing. Tezzeret isn’t quite as impactful as Ajani but at four mana he isn’t bad. His +1 creates artifacts that work for improvise or can be sacrificed for any colour of mana to trigger revolt and help ramp out bigger spells. His -2 is of a more conditional removal than Ajani but can still be effective against smaller creatures. Though I wouldn’t normally talk about planeswalker ultimates, Tezzeret can use his in three turns. This ultimate will give you multiple 5/5 creatures if you control enough artifacts, these include the tokens Tezzeret himself can create. I think Tezzeret is stronger than most people give him credit for. Rating: A-